Football clubs across Europe now have an easy and direct way of arranging friendly matches and tournaments thanks to the ECA Fixture Hub, a new initiative from the European Club Association (ECA) powered by LCP.
The ECA Fixture Hub is a free online platform that simplifies the organisation of matches for men’s, women’s and youth football clubs.
The newly-created Hub is exclusive to all ECA Members and Network Clubs, with over 150 clubs already listed. The platform allows users to find the right contacts and connections, search for matches based on location or calendar availability, and add additional criteria as desired.
"Our goal with the ECA Fixture Hub is to make the coordination of friendly matches effortless,” said Diederik Dewaele, ECA's Director of Football. "By streamlining the process of finding opponents, scheduling matches, arranging tournaments and confirming details, we believe the platform will help clubs save time on their preparation and focus on what really matters - improving their game.”
LCP’s Head of Football Analytics Bart Huby added: “We believe that access to data drives informed decision-making. Building a platform with a data-driven framework that allows clubs to find competitive opponents will benefit football enormously, and ultimately allow clubs to develop faster.
“In particular, this project has allowed us to build on our existing work within the women’s game with TransferLab, the platform we run in partnership with Analytics FC, and help the game develop, so we are delighted to have been a key part of it.”
The Hub uses data from leading football analytics platform TransferLab, and preferences can be based on sporting criteria, such as opposition team strength ratings or recent fixture results, and also by logistics such as travel distance, country selection, or Home and Away preference.
With their preferences set, clubs will be able to see all suitable potential fixtures, and can be notified when a fixture that meets their criteria has been confirmed.
By involving clubs across Europe, the ECA Fixture Hub helps support the development of both the European club competition landscape and the players themselves - particularly those from women’s and youth football clubs.
Key benefits of the ECA Fixture Hub include:
Easy-to-use Search Functionality:
- Search for friendly fixtures based on location, team strength, calendar availability, and further criteria
- Organise or request to join tournaments for up 30 teams
Logistics Calculator:
- Set your club’s desired destinations and home or away preference
- Generate estimated travel distances
- Identify local accommodation and transport hubs
Notification System:
- Be notified when you are invited to play a friendly or join a tournament
- Receive alerts when another club sends you a message
Powered by TransferLab:
- Performance analytics tool provides an understanding of your opponent’s strengths rating and recent fixture results
Visit www.ecaeurope.com to sign up for more information on how to get started with the platform.
About LCP
LCP is a market-leading financial services and data analytics specialist with a strong track record in building online platforms and using insights derived from big data to enable clients to make better decisions. After successfully applying their modelling and analytical expertise to football, through their TransferLab data-scouting platform, as well as in other areas including energy and sustainability, LCP was the perfect partner for the ECA on this project.
About ECA
The European Club Association is the sole independent body directly representing football clubs in Europe with a membership base of more than 240 professional clubs. In addition, the ECA Network provides advisory services to around a further 100 professional clubs. As the representative voice of European club football on the international football landscape, ECA works closely with football’s governing bodies, competition organisers and other professional stakeholders to place the clubs at the ‘Heart of Football’.